PRINTER'S NO. 1123
No. 977 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY ANDREZESKI, MAY 31, 1989
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MAY 31, 1989
AN ACT
1 Authorizing the Commonwealth to participate in the Great Lakes
2 Protection Fund.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Great Lakes
7 Protection Fund Act.
8 Section 2. Legislative findings; declaration of policy.
9 (a) Legislative findings.--It is hereby determined and
10 declared as a matter of legislative finding that:
11 (1) The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, United States -
12 Great Britain, 36 Stat. 2448, et seq., established the rights
13 and obligations of the United States of America and Canada
14 with regard to the use of boundary waters, and reserves to
15 each party thereto and their respective State and provincial
16 governments exclusive jurisdiction and use of all waters
17 within their boundaries subject to a duty to refrain from
18 interference or diversion which would result in injury across
1 their common borders.
2 (2) As a reaffirmation of the cooperation embodied in
3 the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, the Government of the
4 United States of America and the Government of Canada entered
5 into Agreements on Great Lakes Water Quality on April 15,
6 1972, and November 22, 1978, amended and revised in October,
7 1983, and November, 1987, which proclaimed the intent of each
8 country to prevent pollution of the Great Lakes Basin
9 Ecosystem and boundary waters and to restore and maintain the
10 chemical, physical and biological integrity of the waters of
11 the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem.
12 (3) The Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem is a precious public
13 natural resource.
14 (4) The Commonwealth is a trustee of the Great Lakes
15 Basin Ecosystem and as such has a duty to protect, conserve
16 and manage it for the use, benefit and enjoyment of its
17 citizens.
18 (5) The health, safety, commerce and prosperity of this
19 Commonwealth and the people of this Commonwealth require
20 effective management of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem and
21 control of threatened toxic contamination of that ecosystem.
22 (6) In pursuance of its public fiduciary duty and
23 responsibilities, and in furtherance of the public health,
24 safety, commerce and prosperity of this Commonwealth and the
25 people of this Commonwealth, on May 21, 1986, the
26 Commonwealth was a signatory with the States of Illinois,
27 Michigan, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota to
28 the Great Lakes Toxic Substances Control Agreement to
29 establish a framework for coordinated regional action to
30 control toxic pollutants entering the Great Lakes System, to
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1 further an understanding of toxic contaminants and their
2 control, to foster common goals, management practices and
3 control strategies for toxic contamination, and to enhance
4 water quality within the Great Lakes Ecosystem in furtherance
5 of the United States - Canada Great Lakes Water Quality
6 Agreement.
7 (7) The Great Lakes Toxic Substances Control Agreement
8 embodies a regional approach to addressing the economic and
9 environmental problems facing the Great Lakes Ecosystem.
10 (8) The commitment of the signatory states set forth in
11 the Great Lakes Toxic Substance Control Agreement to
12 enhancement of Great Lakes water quality requires a
13 commitment for adequate and sustained financial resources to
14 augment Federal commitments of financial resources, to
15 provide a stable funding source for long-term program
16 management and to provide a shared financial resource pool
17 among the signatory states for activities which may not be
18 the responsibility of the Federal Government or the
19 individual states.
20 (b) Declaration of policy.--It is hereby declared to be the
21 policy of the Commonwealth to promote the health, safety,
22 employment, economic development and welfare of this
23 Commonwealth and the people of this Commonwealth by providing
24 for the participation of the Commonwealth in a Great Lakes
25 Protection Fund, or its successor, in advancement of the
26 principles, goals and objectives of the United States - Canada
27 Water Quality Agreement and the Great Lakes Toxic Substances
28 Control Agreement, and for the financing and support of
29 Commonwealth and regional projects intended to protect and
30 enhance the water quality of the Great Lakes Ecosystem and
19890S0977B1123 - 3 -
1 support related Great Lakes projects which:
2 (1) Accelerate the pace of research into the economic,
3 environmental and human health effects of contamination of
4 the Great Lakes.
5 (2) Fund cooperative research and data collection.
6 (3) Develop improved methods of measuring water quality
7 and establish a firm scientific base for implementing a
8 basin-wide system of water quality management for the Great
9 Lakes.
10 (4) Support research to improve the science on which
11 protection policies are based and devise new and innovative
12 cleanup techniques for particularly complex problems of toxic
13 contaminants.
14 (5) Supplement, in a stable and predictable manner,
15 State and Federal commitments to Great Lakes water quality
16 programs.
17 (6) Nurture cooperation among leaders from state
18 legislatures, local governments, business and industry,
19 labor, universities, environmental organizations and
20 conservation groups.
21 Section 3. Agreement.
22 (a) Authorization.--The Governor, or the designee of the
23 Governor, is authorized to execute an agreement and to do all
24 things necessary or incidental on behalf of the Commonwealth for
25 the formation and operation of the Great Lakes Protection Fund
26 jointly with other states or provinces.
27 (b) Effect.--Any agreement executed pursuant to this
28 provision shall be effective and have the full force and effect
29 of law within this Commonwealth upon execution of such agreement
30 by at least three other states.
19890S0977B1123 - 4 -
1 Section 4. Funding.
2 The General ASsembly may make appropriations directly to the
3 Great Lakes Protection Fund.
4 Section 5. Effective date.
5 This act shall take effect immediately.
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